Parted
by HeartQueenVivaldi
Summary: The hosts are having a rough time bonding at first, so they decide to take a trip to the woods. Little did they know that this would be the most eventful trip to the woods they would ever have. Bears, snakes, spiders, and separating the twins, could it get any worse?


**Hey guys! HQV here! This is a little fic that was requested by one of my readers, Parimalik. I think it turned out well, so enjoy the host club shenanigans!**

Parted

The beginning of a new school year brought about a lot of changes for the new host club and it's members. Takashi Morinozuka and Mitskuni Haninozuka started their second year in High school, but it was their first year not in the well-respected karate club, and taking a chance with something else. They were now trying to be themselves, instead of what others wanted them to be.

Kyoya Ootori and Tamaki Suoh started their first year of high school, which is a big enough change in and of itself, and they were now in charge of the new club. It made them very busy people when school started.

Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin started their last year of middle school, but had the hardest time adjusting to being in a club where they had to interact with others. They had become so used to secluding themselves that suddenly trying to get along with others and have friends was difficult for them.

The group of boys did their best to bond and get along, but no matter how hard they tried they still had a hard time getting to know each other. The first month was the hardest of them all, just for that reason. Tamaki noticed this very quickly, and conversed with Kyoya about it regularly until Tamaki came up with a seemingly brilliant idea.

It was a slow day in the club room on the third floor, so everyone was busy with their own things. Honey and Mori sat at a table looking at cake catalogues, trying to decide which ones were best. The twins were in the corner of the room sitting in a window sill working on homework. Kyoya typed away at his laptop until interrupted by Tamaki, who had been sitting quietly across the table from the raven. "Hey, Kyoya! I have an idea!"

Kyoya looked up from his screen to see the energetic blonde's face light up with excitement. "For the club?"

"Sort of." Kyoya raised an eyebrow, slightly lost. "Haven't you noticed that we've all had a bit of a hard time bonding? I mean, we've all been trying to get to know each other and attempting to be close, but it just isn't what it should be. I mean, if we are going to spend the next few years together every day after school we are going to have to improve our collective relationship, don't you think?"

The raven glanced back down at the screen of his laptop before nodding slightly. "Okay, so what's your point?"

"I think we should go on a bonding trip!" There was silence for a moment as Kyoya thought about it for a moment. After a few long seconds the raven tilted his head slightly and used his middle finger to push his glasses back up on his nose.

"And where do you suggest we go with all six of us?" Kyoya looked back up at the blonde without tilting his head back up and looking over the rim of his glasses.

Tamaki thought about the question with an exaggerated motion of putting his hand on his chin, and then exclaimed with his finger in the air, "I got it!" He turned back to face Kyoya and put his hands on the table it front of him, leaning forward. "Didn't you say at one point that your family has a cabin in the middle of the woods somewhere? We could go there and hike and roast marshmallows and stuff? Wouldn't that be so much fun?!"

The raven sighed then smiled at the other boy's antics. "I guess I did say that didn't I? Yes, we do have a modest cabin in the woods, but it hasn't been used in years, so I would have to get some maids to go up and clean it before we get there. I would also have to arrange to have a couple there while we are there… It would be a bit of a project to get everything ready, but I suppose it is possible." Tamaki's face lit up, and Kyoya thought for a moment. "Are you sure that's what you want to do? It's been known for a long time that dangerous animals are prominent up there. You know, bears and snakes and such."

"That's okay, it'll be a fun adventure! When can we go?" The blonde was now adamant that they spend a few days at this cabin, and he wouldn't leave Kyoya alone until the raven told him exactly when the earliest they could go would be, so eventually the raven gave in and told the blonde that they could go the next weekend.

Tamaki immediately made the announcement to the other boys that they would be spending some time together in the mountains. He even made it a required activity that they couldn't skip out on, but the truth was that they were all actually excited to hear that they would be getting away from the city for a few days. Even the twins were looking forward to the outing.

They spent every spare moment for the next week and a half preparing for their trip. Kyoya made the necessary arrangements for the maids, and the rest of the group planned food and activities and anything else. By friday afternoon they were itching to go, and before long they all threw their duffel bags into the trunk of an Ootori family car and sped off toward the mountains where they would be spending the next two and a half days together.

When they drove up to the cabin, they discovered that the word "modest" was a little off in Kyoya's mental dictionary. This place was far from it. It was two stories high with a full sized basement included under the top two floors. It was all log walls made from the same trees that stood around the building, but they were glossy with a lacquer that didn't disrupt the original color of the wood. The top floor was three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

The main floor had two bedrooms, one of them being the master bedroom with the connected bathroom, and an extra guest bathroom. The main floor also had one large, open space that connected the living room with leather sofas, fur rugs under the coffee tables, and a giant TV to be used if the weather was bad, the grand main kitchen, and the dining room with a gorgeous mahogany table. The ceiling was vaulted at the front where the living and dining rooms expanded past the edge of the top floor, where a balcony led to the rooms up there, and the stairs leading up were placed along the wall near the dining table. In the corner of this grand room was a giant rock fireplace with a wood mantle that the TV was mounted to hover above.

The basement was nothing to sneeze at either. Two full-sized bedrooms each with their own bathrooms, another living room with a TV, and a smaller kitchen. The top floor and the basement were both carpeted all the way through minus the bathrooms and the kitchen, but the main floor only had carpet in the bedrooms, the rest was all glossy hardwood floor that the boys would quickly discover as really slippery when wearing only socks.

The boys all stood looking at the cabin in amazement. "I thought you said this cabin was modest, Kyoya-senpai?" the twins looked over at him skeptically.

"What, you don't think this counts as modest?" the raven looked up at the building for a moment. "I think it is, especially compared to our estate."

"Just how big is your estate, Kyo-chan?" Honey looked down at the raven from atop his cousin's shoulders.

"Much bigger than this, but that is neither here nor there. Let's go inside, I'm sure the maids are waiting for our arrival this afternoon." And with that they picked up their bags and went in the front door. Sure enough, three maids that would be taking care of them for the weekend were standing at attention awaiting their entrance, and waiting for instructions from their young master.

Kyoya, unimpressed with a place he had been to before, proceeded to give the maids instructions. The others, on the other hand, took their shoes off and they all nearly slipped in their socks as they started to explore the cabin, gawking at the bear pelts that were being used as rugs, and the displays of deer antlers on the walls. Hikaru and Kaoru loved the paintings on the walls, Honey and Mori just couldn't stay off the plushy black bear coat on the living room floor, and Tamaki was obsessed with the giant kitchen that he insisted on cooking breakfast in every morning.

Eventually Kyoya interrupted them though, and showed them all to the rooms that they would be staying in. Tamaki would be on the top floor with the twins, Kyoya in the master bedroom, and Honey and Mori in the basement.

After they all felt like they were somewhat situated they all met in the living room and planned out the rest of their day, since they still had a few hours left of daylight, and Tamaki was insisting that they spend it outside. After some debate they decided that they would go on a hike.

So, a half hour later they all met outside the front door in clothes and shoes they could hike in, and set off on a trail into the woods. They pointed out beautiful birds and baby deer. Hikaru and Kaoru took lots of pictures of flowers and other plants they had never seen before and acted like they were happy to be there, but stuck mostly to themselves. The rest of the boys intermingled a bit and talked about various things until they could see the crest of the hill where they wanted to be.

When they reached the top they all gasped at the view and smiles spread across their faces. They were looking out over a little valley with a natural lake and green trees as far as they could see. "Come on, guys! Let's go down to the lake!" Tamaki shouted excitedly and started to descend toward the lake.

The twins followed first, enthusiastically. Honey patted Mori on the head to get him to move forward. Kyoya followed last, shaking his head at Tamaki's antics once again, thinking that this really might have been a pretty good idea.

When they reached the lake they discovered that it was cold, so they decided not to play in the water, but had a fun time running along the banks chasing each other. They had brought sandwiches up with them, so they sat down in a soft patch of grass and ate while taking in the view in front of them.

They stayed for a bit, but pretty soon Kyoya called that it was time to go. The sun would be setting soon, and they needed to get back before dark. Everyone else groaned, but followed regardless. Their spirits were slightly lower on the way back, but it was exciting anyway.

After about twenty minutes Honey tapped Mori on top of the head. "Hm?" The taller boy grunted a silent question.

"Look, it's a baby bear!" Honey exclaimed, jumping down from his perch on Mori's shoulders and ran ahead to pick up a tiny, black bear that grunted and sniffed the blonde. The martial artist turned around to show everybody, and they all ran ahead to get a look at the small, furry animal. "He's so soft!" Hikaru and Kaoru stated in unison after touching the bear on the head.

"He's cute, too!" Tamaki smiled softly and patted the bear on the head. Mori and Kyoya both stood back a ways to observe from a distance before it hit Kyoya dead in the face as he remembered something important.

"Hey, guys. Put the bear down." The group turned to look at the bespectacled boy in question.

"Why, Kyoya? He's so small he's harmless." Tamaki addressed the other boy with a tilt of the head.

"He may not be dangerous, but Mom is never far from her cub, and she _is_ dangerous, I can promise you that." The group huddled around the bear looked at each other before putting the bear down and backing away. They turned to continue up the trail, but stopped dead in their tracks.

Standing in front of them was a giant black bear that was clearly not very happy that they had been touching her baby, and it didn't help that they were standing _between_ her and her baby. A shiver ran up all of their spines as they started to panic. Immediately Kyoya tried to give instructions, but he was unheard as everyone went running in opposite directions.

The raven sighed and shook his head, backing away from the bear slowly so that she could get to her cub. He stood and watched her, perfectly still, until she looked back at him and walked toward him for a brief moment, sniffed him, making eye contact, and turned to walk away, cub trailing after her.

Once the bear was out of sight, Kyoya let himself take a few deep breaths and calm his racing heart. He looked around to find that he was alone, so he made his way back on his own.

On the other hand, everyone else had scattered in two different directions. Hikaru, Mori, and Tamaki had gone one direction, and Kaoru and Honey had gone almost a completely different direction.

Once they felt like they had run far enough and knew that the bear wasn't following them, Hikaru, Mori and Tamaki stopped to take some deep breaths and lean against a tree for a minute. That was when Hikaru looked up and looked around, then started to panic. _Kaoru… Kaoru… Kaoru! Kaoru! KAORU!_ "KAORU! KAORU WHERE ARE YOU?!" He spun a couple of times, scanning the trees, then clutched his chest as his heart became very heavy with worry.

Tamaki and Mori tried to get his attention, but he wasn't listening. He then started to trudge off into the woods, and Tamaki groaned as he chased after the frantic twin, who almost fell as he tripped over a stump and used a tree branch for balance. That was when it got worse, though Tamaki and Mori didn't think it would.

A snake slithered off of the tree and started to climb up Hikaru's arm. The boy panicked even more, eyes going wide, and threw the snake. He crouched down to hide his face in his knees, wrapping his arms around his legs.

Tamaki thought for a moment, then looked at Mori. The older boy nodded before walking off in the direction the snake flew. The blonde approached the twin and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay, Hikaru?"

The boy looked up into blue eyes and nodded, but then a few tears started to run down his cheeks. "I hate snakes… and I want Kaoru back."

"Why do you hate snakes so much? I can understand why you don't want to be away from your brother seeing as how you've never really been away from him, but the snake doesn't make as much sense." Tamaki helped the younger boy to his feet as he explained.

"Well, you see. The last time I was away from Kaoru I had a run in with some bullies that kept teasing me. They eventually decided it would be funny to trick me by putting a snake in my bag while I sat on the bench waiting for Kaoru to come back. It was a harmless, little snake, but it scared me half to death when I pulled it out looking for something in my bag. Had Kaoru been there maybe it wouldn't have been such a big deal, and maybe it wouldn't have even happened. So I guess that really stems from my fear of ever being out of at least earshot of my brother." Tamaki shook his head, disgusted with these kids that did that to him. "Ever since I have never liked snakes in the slightest, and that was about six years ago."

"You know, Hikaru...you don't have to be afraid. You can trust us. We are your friends, and we wouldn't ever let anything happen to you." Tamaki looked around to see Mori walking toward them with the snake in his hands. "Let's try this. Mori-senpai will hold the snake, and you can touch it. As long as we are here we won't let it hurt you, kay?"

Hikaru looked nervous, but agreed. Mori slowly moved the snake close enough that Hikaru could touch it. When he touched it his expression changed from fear to fascination. "Can I try holding it?" Mori nodded and gave the other boy the head first, showing him how to hold it so that it couldn't bite him, and backed off. The redhead was fascinated with the way it moved, and eventually smiled and put the animal on the ground, letting it slither away.

He turned to Tamaki and smiled. "I think I understand now. I don't have to be so scared anymore. I can rely on others besides Kaoru. Thank you." He thought for a minute before speaking again. "Now can I be worried about my brother?"

Tamaki chuckled. "Yes, worry is reasonable...now that I think about it, did either of you see Kyoya run away?"

They thought for a moment before all three shook their heads, but decided the best course of action would be to head back to the cabin.

On the other side of the path Kaoru was with Honey, and he was a little more calm than Hikaru, but he was still panicking. He had a similar experience to Hikaru's, but with spiders. He had to explain a similar situation to Honey that Hikaru had explained to Tamaki, although it was some mean girls, which was why the twins were never fond of girls. He had found a giant toy spider in his desk at a young age on a day when Hikaru had stayed home from school for a fever. It had been the worst day of his life. He no longer went to school if Hikaru didn't.

Honey was understanding of the situation, but helped the younger boy overcome his irrational fear, but let him return to worrying calmly.

They all met up on the trail just before it opened up into the yard of the cabin. Hikaru and Kaoru gave each other a big hug and held hands the whole way back. When the group emerged from the trees dirty and clothes ripped from the underbrush, they saw a small light outside the cabin.

As they approached they also saw the outline of a person, and realized that it was a camp fire, and that Kyoya was already back and had set up chairs around the fire pit for them to collapse in. When they entered the ring of light the all sighed at the feel of the warm fire and sight of the chairs. When they sat down they could see Kyoya's face, and he was smirking, watching his marshmallow brown over the fire.

Flabbergasted, the group of stragglers watched Kyoya eat his marshmallow. "You did it wrong. You're not supposed to run." The boys groaned and turned away from the raven, mad. The rest of their trip was much less eventful, and they were glad of it. It gave Hikaru and Kaoru the chance to bond with the rest of the group. It was a great start to an amazing friendship that they knew would last forever.

 **Hey guys! Thanks for reading, and thanks to Parimalik for the request. It was fun to write! Well, I'll see you all next time! Don't forget to review! -HeartQueenVivaldi**


End file.
